The Coaching Wire: Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013

Oklahoma announces Bill Bedenbaugh hire

Oklahoma officially announcedBill Bedenbaugh as the Sooners’ offensive line coach. Bedenbaugh spent the past two seasons in the same capacity at West Virginia University.

“Bill is a passionate teacher and a demanding coach who I believe will make an immediate impact on our football team,” OU head coach Bob Stoops said. “His track record of developing physical and disciplined offensive linemen makes him an excellent fit for our program.

“Bill is also an accomplished recruiter who will join the rest of our staff in continuing to attract some of the nation’s most talented student-athletes to Oklahoma.”

Bedenbaugh, who coached under Mike Stoops at Arizona prior to his stint at West Virginia, considered Oklahoma one of his dream destinations.

“I have a great admiration for the championship tradition of Oklahoma football and can’t wait to get on the field with our student-athletes this spring,” said Bedenbaugh. “I’ve admired the Sooners for many years, and possess a great appreciation for the talent on this roster and coaching staff.”

Bedenbaugh coached seven seasons on Mike Leach’s staff at Texas Tech from 2000-06. He was a graduate assistant/offensive line coach from 2000-02, before joining the full-time staff as running backs coach in 2003-04 and offensive line in 2005-06.

He was named one of 247sports.com’s Top 50 Recruiters earlier this month.

Jamie Bryant hired at Youngstown State

Jamie Bryant has been named special teams coordinator and assistant linebackers coach on Eric Wolford’s staff at Youngstown State. Bryant spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Houston on the staffs of Tony Levine and Kevin Sumlin. In 2012, he served as the Cougars’ defensive coordinator. Before Houston, Bryant coached the secondary at Vanderbilt from 2002-10. He spent one year coordinating special teams and was the defensive coordinator during his final two seasons. Bryant was defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Saint Francis (Pa.) in 2000 before moving to North Carolina as a defensive GA in 2001.

James Madison announces Curt Newsome hiring

James Madison has officially announced the hiring of Curt Newsome as offensive line coach. Newsome was let go at Virginia Tech in January after seven seasons with the Hokies. The move has been speculated since December, but just became official. This will be Newsome’s second stint with JMU. He served as the Dukes’ assistant head coach and offensive line coach from 2003-2005, tight ends and tackles coach (2002) and defensive line coach (1999-01).